New publications

Harrie Leyten's PhD thesis has been published in the African Studies Collection. In the book, Leyten describes how missionaries, anthropologists and curators of ethnographic museums have tried to come to grips with objects with power over the years. The research is based on available literature and makes use of the author’s own experiences as a missionary, anthropologist, Africa curator, and lecturer in museology.

Many African countries have experienced sustained economic growth, but few have achieved the type of structural change, driven by rising productivity, that has transformed mass living standards in parts of Asia. In the Developmental Regimes in Africa Synthesis Report, editor David Booth examines how DRA research has shed new light on how developmental regimes might emerge and be sustained in Africa in the 21st century. Among the other authors are the ASC's Ton Dietz and André Leliveld, with a contribution on the Agricultural ‘pockets of effectiveness’ in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda since 2000.

Turkey has recently been showing increased interest in developing strong relations with African countries. The relatively new trend builds on the synergy of multiple public and private actors and Ankara has resorted to an arsenal of soft power instruments. Thus, development aid, humanitarian assistance and Islamic solidarity are strongly entwined with diplomacy and trade. Read this ASC Infosheet online or order a copy!

ASC senior researcher Benjamin Soares has a new co-edited volume out: New Media and Religious Transformations in Africa. The book analyzes Africa's rapidly evolving religious media scene. Following political liberalization, media deregulation and the proliferation of new media technologies, many African religious leaders and activists have appropriated such media to strengthen and expand their communities and gain public recognition. Media have also been used to marginalize and restrict the activities of other groups, which has sometimes led to tension, conflict, and even violence.

Het ASC heeft een nieuwe themakaart geproduceerd: 'No-go' gebieden 2014. Deze uitgave bevat een kaart van Afrika én een kaart van de wereld waarop veilige en onveilige gebieden te zien zijn, gebaseerd op de reisadviezen van het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken. Begin november ontstond er opschudding over een vermeend bericht dat de Hogeschool van Amsterdam haar studenten niet naar Afrika liet reizen vanwege ebola en toenemende onveiligheid. De themakaart toont de situatie op 24 november 2014.

This volume attempts to dig deeper into what is currently happening in Africa’s agricultural and rural sector. It seeks to convince policymakers and others that it is important to look at the current African rural dynamics in ways that connect metropolitan demands for food with value chain improvements and agro-food cluster innovations. The book has been published by Brill in the African Dynamics Series, the annual publication of the Africa Studies Centre in which a theme is discussed by scholars from all over the world. Editors this year: Yinka Akinyoade, Wijnand Klaver, Dick Foeken and Sebastiaan Soeters.